Australia unmoved by U.N. critique of asylum seeker policy
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s immigration minister dismissed on Wednesday United Nations’ criticism of its asylum seeker policy, even as fresh evidence emerged of abuses at one of its detention centers in Papua New Guinea.
Nepal moves to ease tension among Sherpas after Everest disaster
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepal’s government decided on Wednesday to send a delegation of officials to the base camp of Mount Everest to cool anger among Sherpas over its response to last week’s deadly ice avalanche in which at least 13 guides were killed….
Import tariffs strain rich-poor gap in ‘madly expensive’ Luanda
LUANDA (Reuters) – In Luanda’s Jumbo supermarket, a half-liter tub of imported vanilla ice-cream used to cost $25, testament to the Angolan capital’s rank as one of the world’s most expensive cities.
Serendipity aids Egypt in struggle to recover stolen heritage
CAIRO (Reuters) – When French Egyptologist Olivier Perdu saw a fragment of a pharaonic statue on display in a Brussels gallery last year, he assumed it was a twin of an ancient masterpiece he had examined in Egypt a quarter of a century earlier.
China military says faces ‘complex’ task keeping secrets
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s military faces a “severe and complex” task in maintaining secrecy, especially given the widespread use of the internet and mobile communications, and needs to ensure security is tightened, a top military paper said on Wednes…
Russia holds snap military drills in Caspian Sea: report
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s navy launched snap military exercises involving its fleet in the Caspian Sea, Interfax reported the Defense Ministry as saying on Wednesday.
U.S. to deliver Apache helicopters to Egypt, relaxing hold on aid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States said on Tuesday it will deliver 10 Apache attack helicopters to Egypt, relaxing a partial suspension of aid imposed after Egypt’s military ousted President Mohamed Mursi last year and cracked down violently on p…
Iran asks U.N. to act on U.S. ban on new ambassador
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran asked the United Nations on Tuesday to demand that the United States grant a visa to Tehran’s proposed new U.N. envoy, while Washington stood firm on its decision to deny entry to Hamid Abutalebi over his suspected links…
White House ‘horrified’ by massacre of hundreds in South Sudan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Tuesday called the massacre of hundreds of civilians in South Sudan an abomination and called for an end to the cycle of violence there.
China stops prominent rights lawyer from meeting German minister
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese police blocked a prominent human rights lawyer from meeting Germany’s deputy chancellor, the lawyer said on Wednesday, in the latest example of curbs on government critics in China.
